PM ‘consciously misled’ country on n-deal: BJP (Lead)

Bangalore, Sep 12 (IANS) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has “consciously misled” the country on the India-US nuclear deal, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh said Friday at the inauguration of the three-day party national executive here.He said that US President George Bush’s statement that promise of assured nuclear fuel supply to India under the nuclear deal is not legally binding had shaken every Indian.

“The revelations made in the letter written by US President George Bush have now clearly proved the apprehensions that the BJP has continuously raised, that by signing the agreement India’s nuclear sovereignty would be undermined,” Rajnath Singh said in a prepared speech.

“It has also proved that the concealing of facts was not done by the US government but by the government of india.

“The prime minister consciously misled the country, all the political parties and the Indian parliament on the issue,” Rajnath Singh said.

He said his party would review the deal if it comes to power.

Rajnath Singh said “our testing options appear to have been eliminated and there is no legally binding agreement on assured fuel supply.

“Does this deal mean differently to different people or is the nuclear deal intended to be breached by the more powerful party to the deal?” he asked, adding “India must now ponder as to what the deal means for us.”

The BJP president questioned whether a minority government has the moral right to commit itself to an international treaty involving issues related to national security and sovereignty.

“For the sake of the nuclear deal, the government has completely twisted the truth and engaged in various acts of misdemeanour that include the purchase of votes during the vote of confidence to misleading the country,” he said.

The BJP president asked whether by agreeing to the terms of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to secure the waiver, “have we not wilfully converted our unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing into a multi-lateral international commitment?”

He said agreeing to NSG terms has compromised India’s right to conduct a nuclear test even if Pakistan or China do it affecting regional strategic and security arrangement.

The BJP chief said his party’s opposition to the nuclear deal was different from the opposition of the Left parties.

“We are in favour of better relations with the US and other countries. We are also in favour of nuclear deal and political cooperation with the US. Our opposition is limited only to those unbalanced provisions in the deal that endanger the nuclear sovereignty of India,” he said.